Pousada in Evora
Pousada in Evora – Hotel dos Loios
This luxury hotel is located in the heart of historic the centre of Evora, a city classified by UNESCO as World Heritage. The Pousada in Evora was originally a convent and one of Evora’s most precious architectural buildings.
On 1965 the convent opens its doors as a Pousada de Portugal, the former cells of the Conegos Regrantes (the congregation faithfull), were converted into luxury decorated rooms, being all different from each other.
Staying at the Pousada of Loios is reliving history itself in each stone, each glance and each object.
Amazing location certainly. Pousada seems very grand with a spacious lobby and impressive marble staircase but guest rooms are small. They are, after all, called cellsl Breakfast just adequate. Lunch and dinner expensive…
We recently stayed at Pousada Loios – Evora and were simply delighted.
The Pousada, a restored convent is superbly appointed with excellent
facilities, restaurant, bar, lounge and pool. All of which we used. The
restaurant offers an excellent Portuguese degustation or set menu
options. The food was delicious and the service excellent. Best of all
is the position of the Pousada situated in the city of Evora near the
2nd century temple of Diana because most of the historic buildings are
readily accessible, in fact because the convent is situated between the
Palace of the Counts of Basto and the house of the Dukes of Cadaval it
is a magical experience to come and go to the Pousada. Churches and
cathedrals are all within 5 -10 minute walking through a beautiful town
centre. The staff were very pleasant and helpful. The bedroom was well
appointed with wonderful views over the university and across to the
countryside beyond. Evora offers easy access to a wonderful Alentejo
wine area. We drove to the Cromlech dos Almendres Magalitic site which
is hidden in the woods West of Évora. This is the largest megalithic
monument in the Iberian Peninsula. It was built around 7000 years ago
when the Neolithic period started. We also visited Estremoz and on our
next trip hope to visit the historic town of Elvas .I can really
recommend this pousada.
where else do you find an ancient temple next to your hotel? the interior of the pousada is very beautiful too, with impressive furniture and paintings. our superior room was comfortable and spacious, and after visiting Evora it was great to chill out at the pool. dinner in the courtyard was an unforgetbable experience. highly recommended!
I booked a night here for ourselves and 5 American friends who were visiting Portugal for the first time.( 4 rooms in total ) the location is superb and we spent 1 1/2 days in Evora which we all enjoyed . The atmosphere of the pousada with its quirky layout was something they cannot replicate in the USA. — BUT oh dear me you let yourselves down — to get a drink at the bar you had to go to the front desk to get someone to serve. The food and service both for the evening meal and breakfast were terrible. Some of the courses ordered were inedible, cold and full of grease. NOT proper portuguese cooking standards at all. It took us 3 hour to be presented with a cover and two courses. The wine served with the menu of the day was of a poor quality. We did ask if there was a problem in the kitchens and the waiter just shrugged his shoulders. We, the english hosts of the party, speak portuguese so knew there was trouble and very low staff moral. Breakfast was poor ,in quality, quantity and at 9. 30am food was being cleared away when guest were still appearing for breakfast.
Just hope you do read this and can salvage the reputation of the pousada. I do know that two our our friend filled in the comments form before they we left so you should not be surprised with this comment.
We loved Evora. We had booked a superior room with a king or queen size bed on the Pousada website and when we turned up we were told the only room available was one with two single beds and that if we didn’t want it we would be charged the E300 anyway. The room looked nothing like the picture, and we could not close the windows at night, which was very cold as it was still winter. The beds were rock hard and convex shaped, so we did not get any sleep at all. Breakfast was very lame, but dinner was amazing. Though we loved the area for the price this pousada was not as advertised and was definately not worth what we paid. I would visit the area again but next time I will stay somewhere else. Because of this Pousada, we made the effort to skip the one in the Algarve where we were headed next and picked a hotel instead. I would not try to stay at another Pousada in Portugal after this experience.
This pousada was just stunning, and made you feel a part of the glorious history of Portugal. We were delighted with every aspect of our visit to Evora; the museums, churches, restaurants, and most of all the people were superb! Thank you.
The Pousada Dos Loios is superbly situated and there’s an easy stroll into
Giraldo and the centre of Evora. Giraldo is beautiful – stunning in fact but what on earth are those gaudy Chinese stores with their plastic goods spilling over the pavements doing. They are visually extremely discordant – and Estramoz was the same.
We were made most welcome on arrival and due to a booking mix-up had a magical upgrade to the ‘Special Suite’ – with a bed about 2m x 2m!
Unfortunately it was rock hard but we solved this by putting our duvet between the mattress and the bottom sheet – this made it just about okay (ancient joints need their comfort).
Parking could have been a problem but was made easy by the efficient, helpful and friendly staff who looked after the cars for residents.
We had a hire car, visiting Estremoz twice, also the wonderful ancient stones nearby (several sites).
The huge disappointment was breakfast. Two or three years ago we stayed at the pousada Santa Marinha on the edge of Guimaraes where the breakfast was the best we have ever had – anywhere. Here in Evora we had luke warm water to make our tea, didn’t touch the coffee which had stewed in its urn since 7.30am, avoided the soggy croissant-style rolls (after the first day), made the mistake of trying the pancakes – ice-cold from the fridge as was the vegetable quiche. We don’t eat meat so that left curd cheese (tasteless) and processed cheese slices (in a country that produces truly lovely cheeses – why? ). Overcooked scrambled eggs were the best thing on offer for us.
With that experience there was no way we’d even think of risking dinner.
Our suite was beautiful and peaceful, reception staff were lovely but those breakfasts – ugh.
Signposting to the Pousada needs improving , especially approaching from the south. The accomodation in a “superior room” was spacious, comfortable and quaint the only slight criticism was that the windows didn’t close properly and were noisy when the wind blew. Considering the charges both dinner and Breakfast were a bit disappointing.
Staff were courteous and polite at all times and the parking service was much appreciated at the end of a long journey. the check-out process was complicated and slow due to a discrepancy in the pre booked room rate. The location is superb with impressive views of the city and beyond.
The building is spectacular. Evora is a nice town to walk about. The rain was unfortunarely incredible too and the building must be nicer in hot weather. If you go to the bar you will have to practice your Portuguese with the barman… No other language seems to be within his reach. INteresting experience.
Me and my wife had a wonderful time at Pousada dos Loios. Wandering through the streets of Evora was delightful and we found excellent restaurants in The Alentejo. The food at the Pousada was also recommendable. Hope to come back but this time we will tour The Alentejo and visit different Pousadas in the area.
We enjoyed our stay very much. We had a very welcoming reception which included someone parking our car for us and carrying our suitcases to our room. Although our room was small it was clean and adequate. It had a nice view and the bathroom window opened up to the hall. Public rooms and the pool area were very pretty and the food in the restaurant was good. It was very quiet (though we did enjoy hearing the church bells in the morning!) It’s in a good location and it was convenient to walk to town and see the area.
Nous avons séjourné à la Pousada Monte de Sta Luzia et avons été enchantés. À Evora nous avons été très déçus par le petit déjeuner. Nous avons dû attendre près de 20 minutes pour avoir des oeufs, après les avoir demandés à plusieurs reprises. Il n’y avait plus de croissants et ce, à 9 heures, bien avant la fin du petit déjeuner. Il manquait de tout et personne ne semblait vouloir remplacer les items manquants. Nous avons séjourné dans des hôtels moins dispendieux et les petits déjeuners étaient beaucoup plus copieux.
We stayed at Monte de Sta Luzia where every thing was excellent. At Evora we were very disappointed by the breakfast. We had to wait 20 minutes to have eggs, and we had to ask to replace them at many occasions. A lot of items were missing at 9 o’clock, so at least one hour before the end of the breakfast. We stayed in hotel less expensive and the breakfast were much generous.
Very disappointed. This is an expensive Pousada and was poor value for money. There was no welcome at Reception who were uninterested and unsmiling. Our room was small and had very little space for luggage. The bathroom was not designed with clients’ needs in mind – nowhere to put bathroom items and the shower was difficult to use and flooded the floor. Public rooms were fine though service could have been better. The best feature for us was the restaurant – very good food for dinner and smiley, helpful staff. The Pousada’s location in Evora is superb – everything is within easy reach. The town itself is beautiful and well worth a visit.
We enjoyed our stay and the staff was very helpful. The room was clean and stylish, but there is absolutely no place to put luggage. There should be luggage racks in each room.
Sorry but we were very disappointed in the pousada. We were there in May 2009 and although the staff was friendly there was no historical information about the place. Our stay in Paradores in Spain was more elegant and more exciting and cost much less. We were lucky to get for the same gloden price a suite which wethought to be great but was not particularly nice. I succeeded in flooding the bathroom since the shower was in an old fashion style tub that wabbled and the showiering area was poorly done. The Pousada is centrally located and very exciting being next to the lovely church and the Roman Temple.
After staying at the Tavira Pousada for 3 nights in Feb 2009, we spent 4 at Evora. Unfortunately we found it rather disappointing. The ’superior’ room was less pleasant than the one at Tavira, although it did have a small sitting room. The bathroom extractor fan didn’t work and we had to open windows to let the steam out. This was not fixed by the time we left. Staff were less cheery than in the Algarve. The breakfast was taken in the cloister and was very limited compared with Tavira. Dinner was also held in the cloister, but as a dinner venue it was gloomy and unappealing – at least in February. We sought restaurants in Evora instead, which were OK but not memorable. Parking close to the Pousada requires a certain amount of ingenuity. Overall, a Pousada with unrealised potential and quite expensive.
Excellent in all respects from the caring welcome, excellent catering in the wonderful cloisters, and interest of all the staff
Evora is a wonderful town. I enjoyed my stay in this Pousada a lot. The food was great, and at night the city was absolutely fascinating. Advice: if you are travelling in the Summer always carry a bottle of water.